In a decision fraught with political risk, Mayor Rob Ford is standing by his transit expansion plan even as a majority of council lines up in support of a rival plan pushed by his hand-picked TTC chair.

“My plan is ‘do-able’ and can deliver RAPID transit for Toronto in an affordable way,” Ford said in a Thursday statement on his Facebook page.

“For almost 100 years, Toronto's transit system has been based on a backbone of subways,” he said, though the city’s first subway opened in 1954. “It’s time to get back on track.”

Ford’s comments reveal a significant rift with TTC chair Karen Stintz, who said earlier in the week that she thought Ford was open to alternatives. His opposition to her proposal further complicates the delicate transit dance between the city and the provincial government.

Councillors who support Stintz’s plan, which includes extensive above-ground transit, believe the plan will be endorsed by council with or without Ford’s backing. But it would be unusual for the province to make major changes to a previous agreement with a big-city mayor, and undertake a massive municipal transit project, over the mayor’s vocal objections.

Ford, Premier Dalton McGuinty, and the provincial agency Metrolinx agreed early last year to a non-binding “memorandum of understanding.” On Wednesday, Metrolinx chair Rob Prichard said the agency would consider changes to the agreement “if city council and the mayor and the TTC all together come forward” with a proposal.

Asked Thursday if the agency sees Ford’s support as a prerequisite for changes, a spokesperson said, “Metrolinx has stated our position and we’re now awaiting the city’s single position on this issue.”

A spokesperson for provincial Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation Bob Chiarelli responded similarly: “We need to have clarity from the city and we want the City of Toronto to land on a single position.”

Councillor Josh Matlow, a centrist supporter of the Stintz plan, said he believes McGuinty would respect the wishes of council regardless of Ford’s views. Councillor John Parker, a TTC board member and one of several right-leaning Ford allies who support the Stintz plan, said he is optimistic the mayor can still be persuaded to change his mind.

“I’m still hopeful that we can work ourselves toward a resolution that we can all be comfortable with. But we’re obviously not there yet,” Parker said.

Stintz, who is usually highly accessible to the media, was “not available” on Thursday, an assistant said.

Ford has consistently extolled the benefits of subways and opposed above-ground transit, which he sees as inefficient. The Stintz plan would move part of the $8.2 billion Eglinton Ave. underground light rail line to the surface, generating an estimated $1.5 billion in savings that could be used to fund both some type of rapid transit on Finch Ave. and part of Ford’s promised extension to the Sheppard subway.

Ford did not explicitly reject the Stintz plan, but he offered a forceful defence of his own. In his statement, he said he is seeking an Eglinton line underground except where it crosses the Don Valley.

“More people will use transit when it’s faster. It can only be faster if it’s not on the surface,” he said.

It remains unclear how a Sheppard extension will be funded if not with money reallocated from the Eglinton project. Gordon Chong, whose report on financing options Ford is expected to receive this week, says the private sector is likely to cover only 10 to 30 per cent of the cost.

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